The Evil Archer of Doom
by Willow-41z
Summary: A reluctant elf is sent to find a Ranger and gets into all the trouble he expected.
1. Celegorm's Quest

A/N: Yet another revision to this chapter. I moved the time frame back to be concurrent with the Hobbit, and fixed the spacing. Please review, if you have the time and the inclination. Thanks.

Celegorm was an elf, but there was something not quite elf-like about him. He didn't like danger (does anybody?). He was no coward, he just preferred to stay at home and read. (He lived in Imladris. Celegorm's grandfather had been one of Cirdan's people.) So this was how he lived for several thousand years. Until...

One day, Elrond master of Imladris found Celegorm in the library.

"I thought I might find you here," he said.

"I wonder why."

"I have a quest for you."

"I hate quests."

"I have an important quest for you."

"What is it?"

"I need you to find a Ranger."

"But isn't there a group of them here?"

"It has to be a specific Ranger," Elrond said patiently.

"Who is it?"

"His name is Halgalfin. He is taller than most men and has light hair. His sword is silver with a black hilt, and bears the legend of Earendil."

"Why?"

Elrond looked at Celegorm. "Why is the hilt black?"

"No. Why do I have to find him?"

"I received a message from him saying he had news of orc movements. It has been some time since, and I worry that he has been ambushed. Now, I need that information. The orcs are about to march."

"I am not the best person for this task."

"You are better suited for it than you know."

There was no getting around it. "When shall I leave?"

"As soon as you can."

So it was that Celegorm found himself outside Imladris for the first time in years, wearing a sword and carrying a bow. He was not really happy about this, but without weapons he would be a sitting duck in the wilds. His horse was a sleek brown mare. The elf-groom had assured him she was fast. He didn't have any direction in mind, either, other than north. All in all, he was not a happy elf.

By nightfall he had reached the river. He decided to follow the river to the foothills of the Misty Mountains and then cut back southwest. Celegorm made a small fire to cook his food and tethered his horse to a tree. Then he slept.

A twig snapped. He jolted awake and drew his sword a little awkwardly. No one stood in the clearing. No one lurked in the shadows. His horse was sleeping. Then he saw a small creature scamper away through the woods. Celegorm sighed. It was going to be a long trip.

The next day he made good time but found no sign of any human. The wilds covered a lot of distance. Halgalfin could be anywhere. Or dead, or captured by orcs. Celegorm vowed that if Halgalfin was a prisoner of orcs, he would free him.

Riding, Celegorm found his mind wandering. He'd been in the middle of a tale of the First Age. Sometimes he wished he'd been there to see it. More often he was thankful he had not been. Dark days, those. Elf-king after elf-king fell to the hordes of Morgoth while the exiles--

Celegorm saw a small clearing with no grass in the center. He dismounted and poked through the dirt with his dagger until he found ashes. Still slightly warm. Someone had camped here last night. He spent an hour examining the clearing before he found the tracks leading to the north. Had Halgalfin come this way? Few besides Rangers frequented the wilds. It was as good a start as any.

He followed the tracks slowly, leading his horse. They were very light and several times he almost lost the trail. By nightfall, he was five miles from where he'd found the ashes. Celegorm had to stop or risk losing the trail in the dark.

He was feeding the fire when he realized something was moving outside the circle of light. Even his elvish sight could not distinguish more than a shadow. Celegorm stood and drew his sword. He was getting better at it.

"Show yourself," he said in Westron. The shadow stopped. He could barely see the outline. It was not tall enough to be the Ranger.

"Who are you?" said the shadow in halting Elvish with a Westron accent.

No evil men spoke elvish. "I am Celegorm of Imladris," he replied in the same tongue. "Who are you?"

The shadow stepped forward. A slender figure was wrapped in a dark cloak and hood. It carried a longbow with an arrow strung. The weapon was pointed down.

"You may call me Kentarre." The mortal unstrung his bow with practiced ease. "Forgive my weapon and lurking in the shadows. I wished to warm myself at your fire, but first wanted to discover who you were." He shook back his hood, or rather, she did. Kentarre was a mortal woman, young by their standards. His surprise kept Celegorm from saying anything. "It wouldn't do to become orc food."

"No, indeed," Celegorm murmured finally.


	2. Kentarre

A/N: Third revision, spacing issues and choppiness. 2-22-06.

Did mortal women usually wander the wilds? He didn't think so.

He remembered courtesy. "You are welcome to share my fire and what provisions I have, Lady Kentarre." Maybe she was lost. But lost people usually didn't have longbows. "Are you lost?"

She seated herself by the fire and smiled. "I thank you for your hospitality, though I have provisions of my own. I am not lost, Lord Celegorm, though I may look it. I wander through the wilds."

He slowly sat. She wandered the wilds? "Are you a Ranger, then, Lady?"

Kentarre shook her head. "No, my lord Celegorm, there are no women Rangers. But this is my home nonetheless." She hesitated. "And I am not nobility. Please, my lord, call me Kentarre."

"If you stop calling me 'my lord'."

"But you are an elf."

"And you are a woman," he said with a hint of a smile.

Kentarre smiled-- no, grinned. "Alright, then."

Celegorm tended the fire, watching his guest. Her hair was a light brown, hacked off at her cheekbones-- probably with the long-bladed knife at her belt. Her eyes appeared blue in the firelight. Standing, she had been almost as tall as a man. Her tunic, pants and cloak were all dark. The longbow Kentarre carried was plain but strong-looking. She kept it close. A quiver and a satchel rested next to her.

She was speaking. "I'm sorry, my- I'm sorry, Kentarre?"

"What brings an elf so far from Rivendell, if I may so ask?"

Celegorm decided he could trust her with his mission. He'd already trusted her with his life. "I'm looking for a Ranger. His name is Halgalfin." Did she know something of the Rangers? "Have you seen him?"

"What does he look like?"

Celegorm repeated Elrond's description. "Tall, with golden hair and a silver sword with a black hilt."

Kentarre thought. "I've never met a Ranger answering that description. Golden hair isn't that common among Rangers, either."

Celegorm had never known that. He wondered if he should leave Imladris more often. "Do you meet many Rangers?"

"Some. I try to avoid them. They think I'm a maiden in distress. It's hard to convince them otherwise."

"Even armed as you are?"

Kentarre gave him a shocked look. "I would never fight a Ranger!"

"No, no, neither would I," Celegorm said hastily, "but when they see you're carrying weapons don't they realize you're-- you're a..." What?

"You have a point." She looked at the fire. "Perhaps it would be even harder if I didn't have my bow."

Celegorm realized he was hungry, and opened the mare's saddlebag and rummaged through it. A loaf of bread, some apples, some cheese... that should be enough. He split the loaf of bread and gave half to Kentarre, with some of the apples and the cheese. She inclined her head in thanks. "Again, I thank you for your hospitality."

They ate in silence. Kentarre stared into the night. Celegorm listened for anyone approaching. He was still curious about Kentarre. Why did she wander the wilds? Didn't she have a home? "This is my home," she had said.

He belatedly realized that Kentarre was speaking again. "Do you set a watch?"

"No. The fire will keep away the animals," he said, glad he knew at least that much woodcraft. "Orcs do not come here, this close to Imladris."

She nodded. "I have had many chances to be grateful for the valour of the elves."

"You've had encounters with the orcs?"

"Not lately. They've been quiet. But these are the wilds, and we are in the shadow of the mountains." She paused. "Have any... rumors... reached Rivendell?"

"What kind of rumors?"

"Of orcs. Something is going on. They are moving, in huge numbers."

"So it has begun," Celegorm murmured. "Do you know where they are moving?"

"They march north."

"Elrond should hear of this," he said to himself.

"He does not already know?"

"No. The Ranger I was sent to find sent word that he had news of orcs, but he

never arrived at Imladris. He may have been waylaid."

Kentarre seemed to be deep in thought for long moments. Celegorm thought too. Were the orcs massing for a war? There was a shadow returning... evil things were emerging once more. The Necromancer--

Kentarre's voice broke his chain of thought. "May I accompany you on your journey?"


	3. Stubborn Mortal Women

For the second time, the archer took Celegorm by surprise.

"Go with me? Why?"

"Because I want to help!"

Celegorm looked at Kentarre in surprise as she raised her voice. Then he contemplated her request. She might slow him down, traveling on foot. But he thought that he should dismount anyway, to follow these mysterious tracks. If she carried a bow, the odds were good that she could use it. Another person would be helpful in a fight. But he still balked at placing a woman in danger.

Then he thought that she was in danger anyway, living out here. She might be safer with him. Celegorm looked up and found Kentarre watching him. Her gaze was steady and calm; something about the way she held her head made him think she would seek out Halgalfin herself if he did not allow her to accompany him.

He had an idea. "Do you know the way to Rivendell?"

She nodded.

"Would you be willing to go there and tell Lord Elrond what you know about the orcs?"

"What little I know, you mean? And then stay there, safely out of the way, until this is over?"

Celegorm, elf though he was, winced. "You have valuable information. If I cannot find Halgalfin, Elrond will have no other knowledge of this save from you."

"Lord Elrond is the Master of Rivendell and foresighted. I cannot believe that he does not know of this already. You yourself said that he already knows something is happening." She looked him in the eye. "I can be of more help to you finding this Ranger."

Did he have a choice, save knocking her over the head and bundling her on his horse? "You place yourself in grave danger if you come with me."

"By traveling in the wild? This is my home. I know its perils."

Perhaps better than I do, Celegorm thought. Why did Elrond send me of all people? Stubborn mortal women.

"Since I cannot prevent you from looking for him on your own, you might as well come with me. We'll be more efficient that way." And you'll be safer, he thought.

Kentarre inclined her head. "Thank you. You won't regret it."

"I hope you won't, either," Celegorm said.

Kentarre did not respond. She was watching the darkness. Celegorm strained his ears, but heard nothing. He was night-sighted, but he saw nothing.

There should have been noise, he realized. Kentarre had noticed the absence of the night noises first. He quietly drew his sword, laid it by his knee, and put an arrow on his bow. Kentarre had strung her bow and nocked an arrow to it.

Celegorm heard a noise far off in the brush. "Over there," he murmured. It was large enough to be a man or orc. But there was only one.

Kentarre stood and melted into the shadows near the trees. Celegorm did the same on the other side of the fire. Now the noises were loud enough for Kentarre to hear; he saw her turning her head to the side to listen.

"It's injured," she whispered. He listened and realized she was right. He saw something moving out there...

The crashing noises stopped.


End file.
